Improvement in water-wheels



Clniteil tant aient @time Letters Patent No. 93,774,'datel August 17, 1869.

v'IMPROVEMENT IN WATER-WHEELS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making -part of The same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, P. HL WAIT, of Sandy Hill, Washington county, New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tater-Wheels; and I do hereby declare that Vthe following is-a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to niake and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents a face view of a bucket, of my improved construction.

Figure 2 is a plan or top view of the same.

Figure 3 is an edge view of a modification ot' the saine.v

Figure 4 is a detail side view of the wheel and chute.

Figure 5 is a side elevation, on a diminished of the wheel-case and chute.

Siinilar letters of refei'eiice indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to a new manner 0f coustruct-ing the buckets of that class of waterdvheels which operates with a vertical inlet and discharge, the guide-chutes being formed similar to the buckets, but in opposite direction.

The object of the invention is to prevent the difficulties arising hereinbefore in wheels with horizontal scale,

`inlets, in which the direct-acting point of the bucket moves at a velocity considerably less than the reactingpoint.

For example, ona wheel having a diameter of three feet and an annular bucket-space of six inches, the iiilet-end of the buckets will move with but two-thirds the velocity of the discharge-end.

To overcome this diiiiculty, I make tho bucket of sncli shape that the water will make nearly oiie-fourth of a revolution with the wheel before it is' discharged, so that it will, consequently, move nearly at right angles to the direction in which it entered the chute. The water will thus impart in iiibrin power to all parts of the bucket. The discharge-ends of the bucket-s are so shapedv that the water will settle down on them, to bc discharged, at an' angle of about forty-five degrees from the lower end of the wheel. l

The centrifugal strain usually produced on the outer .rim of the vertical discharge isthus brought to bear upon the bucket, to help to propel the wheel.

My invention consists chieiiy in producing a peculiar twist of the bucket, by zontal upper edge, and with an inclined lower edge,

the latter being higher at the outer than at the inner end, for the purpose of obtaining the requisite twist of the bucket, and also in a new manner of laying out the bucket, as hereinafter ni`ore fully described.

cally through it.

providing it with a hori- The invention-also consists in fcrniing the vchutes similar to the buckets, but without the twist, and\ in so placing themupon the wheel that they stand in opposite direction to the buckets.

A, inthe drawing, represents the body ofthe bucket.

B representsthe axle .of the wheel.

'lhe inner and outer edges of the bucket are circular curves, described from the axis ct' .the shaft B, as their centre.

The upper edged of the bucketis horizontal, so that they are all on a common plane, while the lower edge b is inclined at an angle of about thirteen or fif-l teen degrees, drawn on a straight line toward the shaft, the inner end of said edge being thus deeper than the outer, as in iig. 1.

The line b, when prolonged toward the shaft, will on the shaft be vertically under the prolongation of the upper line a, as in tig. 2, the two lines being tlius radii otl the circles described` around the axisv of the shaft. Thereby the inner edge cof the wheel is iliade shorter than the outer edge (I, although the diii'ercnceis almostcounterbalanced by the inclination of the line l).

By means of horizontal lines c c, theheight of the I bucket, at the outer end of the saine, is divided inlo ten equal parts. A

The distance between the prolongations ot' the lines a l), on the shaft B,'is also divided into ten equal parts, and the divisions on the outer end oi" the wheel are then, by linesff, connected with those on the shaft',

as shown in iigs. 1 and 2.

These lines are also radial, above, as in fig. 2.

The face of thc bucket is between the` lower fourtenths, 1, 2, 3, 4, made o'ii a straight inclined line, while the upper six-tenths are curved, as shown in tig. 3.

The division of the outer edge may, if desired, be also formed by vertical lines, as in tig. Ii.

Ineitlier case the wheel' will operate to greater yadvantage than any ot' the wheels heretofore used.

The chute or guide-plates O are of a shape similar to that ofthe buckets, and are placed upon the wheel, as in iig. 4, to discharge thc water against thc faces oi' the buckets. 4

The guide is iliade of the saine size of the wheel, and

placed ovei it, as in tig. el. The wat-er passes vertiwhcii looked at from 'llie curve ofthe bucket delivers the water into thc wlieel-buckcts at an angle ot' about fourteen degrees, as indicated by the arrow 1.'

It' the wheel were held fast, the water would be discharged from its buckets in the direction ofthe arrow 2, iig. 4, and fall in a line tangent to the whcels circumfereiice'. lint provided the wheel were ruiming without labor, the water would pass through in the direction which the-guifle-chute gives to it. The wheel moving with the same velocity, would allow it to pass without changingits angle, yet breaking its tangent.

When the wheel is doingits full amount of labor, the water-course is broken, and falls at an angle of about forty-five degrees, as indicated by the arrow 3, forming, below the wheel, a. hollow cone, whose sides have an angle of about seventy-six degrees.

The twist of the bucket at its lower edge terminates at right angles to the sides of tle cone, so that the water passes out of the issues in 'a line parallel with their sides, whereby a full reaction is obtained.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letl. A water-wheel bucket, provided with a level upper and inclined lower edge, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. A water-wheel bucket, having the upper fourienths of its face, or thereabont, made nearly straight, while the other parts are curved, substantially as herein shown and described.

3. A. water-wheel buoketwhose upper and lower edges, when continued toward the shaft of the wheel, are in a vertical line on the. axis of said shaft, while the outer end of the lower edge is forward of that oi' the upper edge, substantially as herein shown and de scribed.

rlhe above speccation of my invention signed by me, this 6th day of March, 1869.

I. H. WAIT.

Witnesses:

D. E. PARKS, THOMAS FLOOD. 

